Operators of modern automobiles, trucks and other vehicles tend to demand a more comfortable environment in those vehicles than was expected in the past. Today, motor vehicle operators expect more from a vehicle than mere transportation. Accordingly, manufacturers have generally provided heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems which allow a vehicle driver to shut out the outside environment during the majority of time spent in the vehicle.
However, all vehicles will eventually absorb or acquire unpleasant odors in the course of their use, due to smoking in the interior of the vehicle, spilled food or drink, etc. This was a relatively minor problem when vehicles were not generally constructed to the relatively tight standards used today, and before the development of air conditioning systems for most vehicles. At that time, most vehicles were driven with a window or windows open, particularly in warm weather when unpleasant odors tend to be at their worst. Moreover, increasing atmospheric pollution and noise, particularly in crowded urban areas, has resulted in the shutting out of those negative external environmental factors by more and more drivers.
As noted above, unpleasant odors may be trapped to a certain extent in such tightly enclosed vehicles. Various solutions have been proposed for their concealment or elimination, but all suffer from various defects in view of the present invention, such as a tendency to block the airflow through a vent; inability to be controlled or removed when the scent is not desired; lack of portability; and excessive cost and complication.
The need arises for an air freshening and/or scenting device which is easily and quickly temporarily installable in and removable from the heating, ventilating or air conditioning system of a vehicle. The device should be easily replaceable when the supply of scent therein is depleted, and should be unobtrusive when installed. Further, the device should impinge as little as possible upon the airflow delivered by the vent within which it is installed. Moreover, the device should be of relatively low cost and simple to install initially and to manipulate as desired by the operator of the vehicle.